US Postal Rural Carrier and Fee Basis

[whittebe]

A Postal Rural Carrier is payed an hour rate based on the pieces of mail handled and miles driven in their route.  The number of hours paid each day is based on the route they cover.  They have heavy mileage deductions because of the miles driven for work, as well as car repairs.  Does this qualify as a Fee Based employee and therefore be able to deduct these employee expenses on the Federal tax return?

[JohnW222 · Accepted solution]

No.  Unfortunately, this wouldn’t qualify you as a fee-basis employee. 

A fee-based public official is a person who receives and retains remuneration directly from the public.

Someone who receives payment for services from government funds isn't a fee-based public official, even if the compensation is referred to as a fee.

Please see Social Security's Fee-Based Public Officials page for more information.

[whittebe]

I understand, thank you for a clear answer.

I am surprised about how unfair this is to workers like our US Postal Carriers who have very high expenses related to their jobs.  USPS only covers a fraction of the auto costs and the rest comes out of their pockets.